Study finds teenagers with autism struggling to cope

Updated
October 09, 2013 15:26:00

One in 100 people are diagnosed with autism, and an Australian-first study of teenagers with autism has found a significant majority struggles to cope with schooling, finding friends, and deal with stress and bullying. Autism Spectrum Australia says the findings don't bode well for people with autism finding satisfactory work.

SCOTT BEVAN: A world-first study of teenagers with autism has found most suffer from high rates of bullying, isolation and mental health problems.

The survey of one hundred 12-17 year-olds, along with their parents, reveals a large proportion are struggling to fit in at school and they're finding little support in dealing with their problems.

Autism Spectrum Australia, which commissioned the report, says the findings show more has to be done to educate schools as well as service providers about the needs of autistic children.

Tanya Nolan reports.

TANYA NOLAN: Meet Mitchell Sawan.

MITCHELL SAWAN: I'm 14 years old. I was born in 1999, May the 29th.

TANYA NOLAN: Mitchell has what's called high functioning autism. That means he has an IQ above 70 and can attend a mainstream school.

But he's different, because he is one of the lucky few who attends a satellite class attached to Aquinas College, but run by teachers specially trained to teach students with autism.

One in 100 people are diagnosed with autism and that number is growing. But not many get the benefit of specially-tailored schooling.

In fact, the findings of a newly commissioned survey by Autism Spectrum Australia show around two thirds of adolescents with autism struggle with schooling.

Dr Debra Costley is the lead researcher.

DEBRA COSTLEY: The thing that really stands out in this report is that young people with autism are still struggling at school. Over two thirds of them are telling us that they still struggle to concentrate in class. They don't always understand what the teacher's asking them to do. They have trouble completing work in school as well as homework.

TANYA NOLAN: Mitchell Sawan is one of 100 teenagers who took part in the survey.

I'm told that you like school a lot. Is that true?

MITCHELL SAWAN: Moderately.

TANYA NOLAN: Do you find it hard to concentrate sometimes in class?

MITCHELL SAWAN: Yep.

TANYA NOLAN: And do you often get stressed because of that?

MITCHELL SAWAN: Yep.

TANYA NOLAN: How stressed do you get?

MITCHELL SAWAN: Like, two-fifths scared.

TANYA NOLAN: Scared enough that you find the class-work hard to do?

MITCHELL SAWAN: Yep.

TANYA NOLAN: And do you think that the teachers are aware of that?

MITCHELL SAWAN: No.

TANYA NOLAN: The study also found nearly 70 per cent of respondents felt lonely and 58 per cent needed more support to deal with bullying and discrimination.

TANYA NOLAN: Have you ever been bullied at school?

MITCHELL SAWAN: No.

TANYA NOLAN: Mitchell's mother Najwah sees it differently.

NAJWAH SAWAN: So (inaudible) Mitchell said that he's never been bullied, but I've sort of had situations that I know he has. Maybe I would call it bullying, which is nice to know that he doesn't think that it is bullying.

TANYA NOLAN: Lead researcher Debra Costley says the troubling corollary to the findings of the We Belong Too survey is that many will struggle to find satisfactory work.

DEBRA COSTLEY: What concerns us most at ASPECT is that these are really bright children and we fear that they may not be able to reach their potential. So if they struggle at school and they don't finish their HSC, for example, or they don't get onto TAFE or university - whatever they would like to do next to get their qualifications - then they're not going to be able to enter the job market in the way that they would like. And so for Australia we lose that whole pool of talented young people.

Last year we completed a study with adults with high-functioning autism and asked them for their experiences and over 300 people completed that survey. And what they told us was that only 50 per cent of them were actually in work. And of those, the majority were in part-time or casual work.

TANYA NOLAN: Mitchell Sawan doesn't see a problem there.

MITCHELL SAWAN: When I get enough money, I'll try and buy new car or something, like a Ferrari.

TANYA NOLAN: How do you think you might get a car? Do you think you'll have to get a job first?

MITCHELL SAWAN: Probably work at Donut King or at McDonald's or Big W or EB Games.

TANYA NOLAN: I also was told that you might want to be a policeman. Is that true?

MITCHELL SAWAN: Well, yeah. In New York City.

TANYA NOLAN: His mother Najwah is aware that Mitchell has more support than many others in his situation, but she still worries about his future.

NAJWAH SAWAN: I think in terms of work, I'm sort of pretty confident that, you know, he'd be able to do sort of work at McDonalds or sort of places like that. Whether he goes to year 11 and 12 is another issue, because education sort of, learning is difficult for him. But I think the future sort of looks bright. Because he needs to buy a Ferrari, you see? (laughs) So he needs to work hard. A lot of money. So yeah, it would be good to get him a job that he is satisfied in and can see some rewards.

SCOTT BEVAN: That's Najwah Sawan, mother of Mitchell, speaking to our reporter Tanya Nolan. And longer versions of those interviews will be made available on our website.